


under these neon lights with you

by thereisnobearonthisisland



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Dan Howell's Birthday, Drabble, Fluff, Introspection, M/M, birthday fic, but what else is new, excessive description of daniel howell, happy birthday dan, ish, it's only mentioned like one time, phil just loves him okay, potential ii spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-11
Updated: 2018-06-11
Packaged: 2019-05-21 01:56:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 680
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14906234
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thereisnobearonthisisland/pseuds/thereisnobearonthisisland
Summary: it's dan's birthday, and phil just really loves him.





	under these neon lights with you

**Author's Note:**

> i wrote this this morning in a frenzy because i forgot and then life hit me hard. thank you to katie ([knlalla](https://knlalla.tumblr.com/)) for betaing this at the last minute! you're the best!
> 
> happy birthday daniel howell ;)

Sometimes Phil wonders if the novelty of Dan’s beauty will ever wear off. After eight years together, surely his mouth shouldn’t run dry when his eyes pass over those plump, pink lips. Surely his hands shouldn’t itch to card through the loose curls piled on top of Dan’s head. Surely Dan can’t stay a shiny new toy for Phil to gawk at forever - no matter how much he glows beneath these stage lights.

It’s hot under these stage lights. They’re both drenched in sweat, and somewhere in the back of his mind, Phil thanks whoever had the idea for them to line the inside of their outfits with absorbent padding. During some shows, it scratches against his skin uncomfortably, but it’s well-worth not soaking through eighty different shirts over the next few months. Just the thought of how much money they’d be wasting without this inside lining makes him want to shudder.

He doesn’t, though, because this is all just an inner monologue in the back of his mind. The front of his mind - and every other part of it, if he’s being perfectly honest - is focused on _Dan, Dan, Dan_. Dan, who’s grinning out at the audience, with that stupid black party hat shooting silver stars out over dark curls strapped to his head. Dan, who’s floundering, trying to come up with a way to explain exactly how splashing bleach into your open eye could be a _good_ thing, gesturing wildly with his palms turned upward as if that could somehow make him more believable. Dan, who keeps turning to look at Phil with that glint in his eye that says _I see you staring at me, but shouldn’t you be looking at the audience every now and then?_

Phil glances out to the audience, but it looks like they’re all just as enraptured with Dan as he is. He’s seen comments online, sometimes, proclaiming that he - _Phil_ , of all people - is one of the best storytellers they’ve ever encountered. Clearly, they’ve never watched Dan tell a story. He can spin a story on the spot, weave together all the right words as he goes, read his audience with a flick of his eyes.

He’s doing it right now, letting his eyes flit over the audience as he opens his mouth and begins spewing out a tale of lovers forced apart by an evil king.

“They’re forbidden to see each other ever again,” Dan continues, his face lighting up, “ _unless_ one of them agrees to give something up - their sight! If one of them will agree to let the king splash bleach into their eyes, the king will lift his ban on gay partnerships.”

Phil knows he should tear his gaze away, should turn to look at the audience again and shake his head, should try to sway the audience from agreeing that having bleach splashed in your eye could be a good thing because it’s _not_. But Dan is a good storyteller, and he’s pretty, and he’s turning to look at Phil as he closes his argument, and Phil can’t breathe.

“What would you do for love?” Dan turns back towards the audience, but Phil’s eyes are still fixed on him. “Would you let an evil dictator splash bleach into your eyes for love?”

Phil waves his hand at the audience as he finally turns to look at them fully for the first time in the past several minutes. “Don’t even vote. We’ll give him that one.” Half of the audience boos anyway, while the other half cheers, and maybe Phil called it prematurely, but his heart is thrumming with affection for Dan, and he can’t really bring himself to care about the actual vote right now. So maybe he’s a bit biased, maybe he’s been blinded by Dan’s beauty, by how happy he wants to make sure his boyfriend feels today. But it’s Dan’s birthday, and the birthday boy always gets what he wants.

Maybe Phil shouldn’t be this enamoured after eight years together, but he is. And he kind of hopes it’ll be this way forever.

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading :)
> 
> [like and reblog on tumblr](https://laddyplester.tumblr.com/post/174793068039/under-these-neon-lights-with-you)


End file.
